Large pores, clogged pores, pores that show through makeup. The discontent you may have with pores showing on your face is completely relatable.
Pores help our skin to breathe, release natural moisturising oils and excrete dead skin cells, but that doesn’t mean the dear little holes have to be so large, coarse and visible. Read on to find out why the pores on your face may look large and how to shrink them.
Why do pores on the face get bigger?
There are 3 reasons the pores on your face might become bigger or coarse-looking:
• Ageing
• Clogging
• Genetics
Ageing
As we get older, our skin produces less collagen and loses its elasticity. This can cause the skin around the pores to become lax, so the pores look larger as they sag and stretch.
Clogging
Pores can become clogged by makeup, oil or general build-up. When your pores are clogged, the sebaceous glands in your skin have trouble excreting oil, which makes the clogging worse and in turn makes your pores appear larger. Clogging also enables bacteria to thrive, which can lead to blackheads and pimples, so it’s important to cleanse and exfoliate regularly.
Ironically, dry skin can cause the pores to clog, too. When your skin becomes dehydrated, your sebaceous glands can overcompensate their oil production and unwittingly clog your pores, leaving them enlarged and pimple-prone as well. Like many things in life, balance is key, so cleanse and moisturise together.
Genetics
Some people just naturally have larger-looking pores on their face due to genetics. If you naturally have a more oily skin type, then you’re more likely to have inherited large pores as well. Sometimes, they won’t look large until much later in life as our skin matures and changes.
How do you tighten and shrink large pores?
There are a few ways to tighten and shrink the pores on your face, depending on the nature of your skin and what causes them to enlarge in the first place.
Exfoliating Cleansers
Thorough cleansing and regular exfoliation can help prevent the large appearance of pores by keeping them clear of oil, dead skin cells and other debris.
Cleansers that contain AHAs (alpha-hydroxy acids) will help exfoliate your skin, or if you have an oily skin type, cleanser with BHAs (beta-hydroxy acids, like salicylic acid) will help exfoliate and regulate your natural oil production.
A charcoal cleanser can also help absorb excess oil and remove impurities.
Be sure to moisturise after cleansing to prevent the sebaceous glands from overcompensating any moisture lost in the process.
Medical Grade Skincare
In addition to cleansing and exfoliation, you should can also use products to help your skin rebuild collagen to tighten the pores and regulate your natural oil production to prevent them from dilating again.
Serums with Vitamin A (in the form of retinol or retinaldehyde) has been proven to both regulate oil and stimulate collagen production, which can help tighten pores.
You can also use a collagen peptide serum to strengthen the skin around the pores so they don’t sag as much with age.
Hydradermabrasion
HydraFacial: exfoliating, decongesting, extracting and hydratingSometimes, you need something a little stronger than a home skincare routine to shrink your pores.
HydraFacial is our preferred method of hydradermabrasion because it uses nourishing serums to exfoliate and flush debris from your pores. It also has a suction device that extracts all the debris from your pores. You can see it collected in a small container afterwards, which is gross, but oh-so satisfying.
RF Needling
RF Needling treatments use radiofrequency energy, along with percutaneous needling to stimulate a micro-healing response in your skin. The healing response induces rebuilding of collagen, which can result in smaller-looking pores.
Pico Rejuvenation & Deep Laser Toning
This treatment uses and advanced Pico laser technology to stimulate collagen remodelling and refine the pore structure. As a result, the pore lining has more youthful strength so that your pores look tighter, and they will stop overproducing oil, which keeps them tighter, too.
